I was a serious kid to an absurd degree. I was overwhelmed with responsibility. You know, trying to play grown up. I overdid it.
When somebody asks me who I'm wearing, I always see myself with a BabyBjoern, carrying a little tiny Karl Lagerfeld, like, 'I'm wearing Chanel.'
I have plenty of vanity in my life. I want to look pretty in the world. But it can be this bottomless pit.
Television lets audiences deeply connect with characters.
However, I'm at a very comfortable place in my career and celebrity, in that I don't have to audition as extensively as I used to for roles but yet I'm not immediately recognizable.
Voice over can be tricky. It can be dangerous because it's over-used or inappropriately used.
I like marriage. I feel very secure. It helps when you are in love with the person you are married to.
Relationships are a constant negotiation and balance.
You don't realize how useful a therapist is until you see yourself on e and discover you have more problems than you ever dreamed of.
I'm happier in my thirties. I feel clearer about who I am and less apologetic about it, and more accepting of my limitations and also more aware of the ways in which I'm capable.
If I hadn't been an actress, I was thinking seriously about going into psychology. It's just really what I'm interested in: the human psyche and how we process information.
Autism does exist on a spectrum, and there are so many manifestations of it, so many kinds of expressions of it. And every case is particular.
By the time I went to Yale, I'd been acting for a long time and I was really tired of it. I was restless - and a little bored - and I was really eager to investigate different parts of myself.
I discovered Christopher Isherwood in college. His writing style is so direct, warm, and inclusive.
I do know how to fire a machine gun, so be warned! I'm trained!
People in the CIA, they marry each other. They're like actors! We have to travel without much warning to far-flung places, and it's very hard to communicate what our experiences are like to those in the outside world.
I should be so lucky to be a misfit. I aspire to be a misfit.
My goal is always to do something that feels just beyond my reach, and 'Homeland' continues to do that. Every season, they find new ways to scare me. The show is like a diamond that fell from the sky. I'll always feel slightly bludgeoned by it, but in the best way possible.
I discovered Orson Welles in college; my freshman English professor screened 'Citizen Kane' for us, and I wound up writing a 20-page term paper on it.
I really have never been concerned about being beautiful on-screen. That's just not my jam.
When I was a kid, I was one of those really obnoxious 'oooh oooh' girls, with my hand up in the air constantly. I've learned over the years that that's not so attractive, so I've censored that.
I became very successful at a young age... I had lots of opportunities and lots of power and had no idea how to focus it.
Any story is better with a little love in it, right?
The big question is always, 'Eyes or lips?' I tend to go with the eyes because I've got a lot more material to work with now - and it saves me from reapplying lipstick! I'm a pretty low-maintenance person and it's too excessive to exaggerate both the eyes and lips.
If you do something that you're not genuinely passionate about, it is a little soul-crushing. Just not worth it.
What I needed was a connection to life that was real and lasting.
Growing up in New York City, I was always encouraged to question authority, and I think I confused patriotism with jingoism.
I just want to be a sane person. I wanna be a person who has a life and who acts.
I still have a book club with my friends from when I was 5. That's the privilege of growing up in a place where people want to remain. It's a huge gift.
I can get a dance party started pretty much anywhere and anytime.
I love Berlin.
I particularly love Israel. I've had fantastic experiences there.
I don't want to be an actress. I want to be doing good work that is well written and has good people in it.
My first offer was when I was 12, and it was for a soap opera. And I turned it down because I knew that I was an unformed actor, and I didn't want to develop bad habits.
I eat in moderation and try not to worry about it.
I think 'Breaking Bad' is incredible.
I try to eat sensibly. I cheat, but for the most part, I eat in a clean way.
I know, it's true. I've played these tortured teenagers. I can't wait to shed that image.
Growing up in New York with artist parents - a very liberal environment, where we were always encouraged to challenge the status quo - I think for a long time I confused jingoism with patriotism. And that is a mistake.
Fame doesn't end loneliness.
Oh, I'm full of fear. I care about things; therefore, I have fears. I like to think that I'm brave, which is different. Brave means you're able to admit that you care. If you care, you are vulnerable.
Growing up, I wanted desperately to please, to be a good girl.
I exercise more for mental relaxation than anything else.
It's been a great privilege to see how interwoven nations are and how incredibly complex these relationships are. It's so elaborate.
Once you get over that peak of puberty, you hit a nice stride.
Maybe philosophy - I love talking about ideas. Or maybe art history. I was thinking about psychology, then I got really afraid because everybody says it's terribly boring.
As a young performer, I didn't know that you can have a great time playing someone in terrible crisis. The more you know it's not real, the deeper you can go into it. And the easier it is to let it go when it's done.
I'm only realizing now that I was a child actress because I always took myself so seriously.
You have to come to work from a place of love.
